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Alabama court ruled frozen embryos are children. Experts explain potential impacts to IVF treatment.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, are considered children under state law and are therefore subject to legislation dealing with the wrongful death of a minor if one is destroyed.
“The Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location,” the opinion states, including “unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed.”
The immediate impact of the ruling will be to allow three couples to sue for wrongful death after their frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic.
But this first-of-its-kind court decision could also have broader implications.
“No court — anywhere in the country — has reached the conclusion the main opinion reaches,” Justice Greg Cook wrote in his dissenting opinion in the case, adding that it “almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Alabama.”
Abortion rights groups and IVF advocates have been warning about the possibility since before the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and as Republican-led states passed new abortion restrictions in its wake. The Alabama decision cited language added to the state constitution in 2018, which says “it is the public policy of this state to ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child.”
Now, fertility experts and organizations say Alabama’s ruling could lead to a decrease in IVF access and care.
Dr. Mari Mitrani, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Gattaca Genomics, told CBS News the ruling poses “serious potential and unintended consequences to the fertility industry as a whole, threatening Alabamans’ rights to start a family.”
About 1 in 5 people are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A recent survey found 42% of American adults say they have used, or know someone who has used, fertility treatments.
“This ruling poses a threat to embryologists, fertility doctors, lab technicians and all fertility healthcare providers in Alabama,” Mitrani said. “The local medical professionals will be exposed to unforeseen consequences due to this ruling, when trying to help their patients.”
The impact could reach beyond the state, too.
“This ruling has profound implications far beyond Alabama’s borders,” Resolve: The National Infertility Association said in a statement on social media “Every American who wants or needs access to family building options like IVF should be deeply concerned about this development and the precedent it will set across the country.”
The nonprofit organization said that within Alabama, it will likely have other “devastating consequences, including impacting the standard of care provided by the state’s five fertility clinics.”
“This new legal framework may make it impossible to offer services like #IVF, a standard medical treatment for infertility,” the statement said, noting it also remains unclear what this decision means for people who currently have embryos stored.
-The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, known affectionately to fans across the baseball world as “El Toro” has died at 63 years old.
The Etchohauquila, Sonora, Mexico native recently stepped away from his role in the Dodgers’ broadcast booth to focus on his health just ahead of the team’s run to the World Series. He had planned to return for the 2025 season.
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The man behind “Fernandomania,” which took Los Angeles by storm during the 1980s, spent 11 of his 17 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Boys in Blue, leading the team to two World Series titles in 1981 and 1988.
He was well-known for his signature windup and high leg kick before dazzling hitters with his virtually unhittable screwball. Upon retirement, he ranked amongst the franchises top 10 all-time in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, games started, complete games and shutouts.
The Dodgers honored Valenzuela in 2023 by retiring his No. 34, making him only the 11th Dodger to achieve the spot above the left field bleachers.
Late Tuesday evening the team took to X to acknowledge Valenzuela’s death.
“Fernandomania por siempre,” said a photo. “Fernandomania forever.”
More to come.
DELPHI, Ind. (CBS) — Jurors in the Delphi, Indiana murders trial got a closer look Tuesday at some of the most concrete evidence in the case.
Richard Allen, 52, is facing four counts of murder in connection with the murders of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, in 2017.
Video taken from Libby’s phone right before the murder shows a man, believed to be the killer, walking on a bridge. For the first time Tuesday, jurors got to see a longer version of the video.
A digital forensic analyst also testified about how he got the data off the phone.
Also Tuesday, lead crime scene investigator Brian Olehy brought several key pieces of evidence from at or near the crime scene to court—though they were not shown to the jury, according to CBS affiliate WTTV in Indianapolis.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Brad Rozzi asked several times whether swabs from the crime scene contained any DNA linking Allen to it, WTTV reported, Olehy said he was not aware of any such connection.
Olehy also testified that he believed the branches found on the girls’ bodies were placed there to conceal them, and said it was a “logical assumption” that Libby was “disrobed”—as she was wearing some of Abby’s clothes, WTTV reported. He said investigators could not determine the sequence of events, and did not test the sticks that were found with the bodies, the station reported.
There was also testimony about a single unspent bullet at the scene that is at the center of the case against Allen, the station reported.
Testimony was also heard from Railly Voorhies, who was a 16-year-old high school student who happened to be walking near the Freedom Bridge in Delphi and saw an “unsettling” man who glared at her, WTTV reported. She said the image of the man on the bridge documented in Libby’s phone was the man she saw, the station reported.
Another witness, Betys Blair, also testified that she saw the man on the bridge, WTTV reported.